Scotland
Three things about the independence referendum scrap
Posted on January 10, 2012 by Adam Ramsay | 21 Comments
First: let’s get one thing straight. Nations have a right to self determination in international law. David Cameron may quibble about the devolved powers of the Holyrood Parliament under the Scotland Act. He may even, if it came to a battle in the international court, win. In my experience the arc of judicial rulings bend [...]
Cuts and Privatisation: Still on Edinburgh’s Agenda in 2012
Posted on January 9, 2012 by Alyson Macdonald | 3 Comments
In November 2011, the City of Edinburgh Council took the decision not privatise environmental services (that’s waste and recycling, street cleaning, and parks maintenance), following pressure from a local grassroots campaign. I’ve been involved in the campaign from the early stages and it has been amazing to see how a little bit of public scrutiny [...]
Nov 30: Greens call Holyrood out on strike
Posted on November 16, 2011 by Gary Dunion | 2 Comments
“Pick a side,” urged the Green members of the Scottish Parliament, Patrick Harvie and Alison Johnstone, as they voted against scheduling business during the multi-union pension strike.
Privatisation and the SNP
Posted on October 27, 2011 by Alyson Macdonald | 2 Comments
While Alex Salmond received a hero’s welcome at the SNP conference in Inverness last weekend, controversy has been brewing back in Edinburgh. On Thursday, the City of Edinburgh Council – led by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats and SNP – will be taking the first of a series of votes on whether council services [...]
Food Revolt
Posted on October 18, 2011 by Mike Small | 2 Comments
Interest in local food has been booming in recent years, even through recession (while sales of organic and fair trade food can take a hit). That maybe tells us that the local food revolution is more than people wanting to know where their food comes from after decades of crumbling crisis amid our dysfunctional food [...]
The Scottish referendum – don’t write off a yes vote
Posted on October 3, 2011 by Adam Ramsay | 13 Comments
There are three golden rules: It’s not over till it’s over; never get involved in a land war in Asia, and never, ever, write off Alex Salmond. At some point in the next five years – probably in 2014 or 2015, Scotland will vote on its constitutional future. As an exile in England, I am [...]
Would a new Scottish Tory party succeed? Not under Murdo Fraser
Posted on September 7, 2011 by Adam Ramsay | 4 Comments
Murdo Fraser, deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives, has made headlines by proposing that his party split from the Tories in England. Like Bavaria’s CSU, they would support the Tory leader at Westminster. But they would be their own party, who chose their own policy, set their own direction. I say like the CSU. Perhaps [...]
Save Our Services: East Edinburgh Edition
Posted on July 30, 2011 by Alyson Macdonald | 5 Comments
Sometimes, something happens that restores your faith in activism, and humanity in general. This week, I had one of those moments at a public meeting for Save Our Services East Edinburgh. I’ve been to a lot of meetings since the Coalition government came to power, and not all of them have been terribly interesting or [...]
Assessing the Evidence on the ‘Community Right to Buy’
Posted on July 28, 2011 by Joseph Ritchie | No Comments
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act, passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2003, provoked both controversy and enthusiasm. Best known for creating Scotland’s ‘Right to Roam’, – the right to responsible access in rural Scotland, the Act also established what’s known as “the Community Right to Buy”. In light of a research published last month by [...]
What are current political conditions, and how could a Commons approach flourish in them?
Posted on July 14, 2011 by Justin Kenrick | 1 Comment
In Robin McAlpine’s superb analysis (After the election . . . where next for Scottish Politics?) the Scottish Parliamentary Holyrood May 2011 election was about a long term process in which: a broadly left-of-centre consensus has interacted with a more specific left-focussed strand of the electorate, and this has generated continuing change in Scottish politics [...]
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